Falling Through a Blue Sky
by BlackHeartSpectre
Summary: This is the story of four Exorcists; Froi Tiedoll, Marian Cross, Cloud Nine, and Winters Zokalo. Their destinies entwined, they must survive their pasts and the present to become the greatest of Exorcists...Generals.
1. Chapter 1

Falling Through a Blue Sky

Falling Through a Blue Sky

Chapter One

He was the worst priest-in-training he'd ever met in his life, he thought as he sat outside that fine morning, having a cigarette. He'd snuck back in the dorms from another one of his late night visits to the convent next door and had almost been caught.

He blew out smoke.

Marian Cross was never one to follow rules. He'd been surrounded with them, smothered by them growing up. His father a gunsmith with certain unchangeable ideas about what a man should look like and how he should act, and his mother a housewife who loved nothing more than indulging her little boy. It had been a strange household to grow up in, crushed by his father's stupid rules yet spoiled by his mother. He'd been at odds with his father constantly, with issues ranging from the fact that his father never let him grow his hair, to him wanting to become a priest. His father had been furious, his mother happy for him and encouraging.

Yes, a strange household indeed. Cross would be going back for a visit in a few days, right after he graduated seminary school. He couldn't wait to see his mother again.

His father…well... he didn't know.

Cross put out his cigarette and kicked some dirt over it to hide it. He then walked to his first class to prepare for finals.

--

"Tiedoll." The artist with the wondering mind looked up from his drawing.

"Yes, General Yeegar?"

"There's been a report of an Innocence somewhere in South England. I need you to investigate it for me."

"Yes, General Yeegar." The middle aged man packed away his supplies and ran a hand though his graying hair.

"I'll leave right away." He began to walk away nonchalantly.

"Oh, and Tiedoll?"

"Yes?" He blinked behind his large rimmed glasses.

"Take a few shards with you also. We're in desperate need of new Exorcists."

"Okay, yes, yes. I'll remember to get some before I leave," he mumbled.

"See that you do," General Yeegar replied.

"Sometimes I wonder if that man's really all there," he said to himself after Tiedoll had left.

--

Cross took a deep breath, glad to finally be free. He walked to the train station after saying a few regretful goodbyes to the nuns (most of them weren't nuns anymore, he mused to himself). He boarded the train for London and spent most of the long journey looking out the window, wondering what it was going to be like once he was home.

He arrived to the house in a state of chaos, the shop below the same way. Cross had to step over anvils and tools to get to the stairs that led to the house.

"Mom? Dad? I'm home." Silence except for the clattering of dishes. He walked to the kitchen to find his neighbor, Elaine, doing them.

"Oh! Marian, you scared me! I thought you weren't supposed to be back for a few more days.

"I caught an early train. Where are my parents?" Elaine continued to wash the dishes, though more somberly now.

"Elaine? What aren't you telling me? What's going on?" Cross grabbed her by the shoulders hard.

"Your mother…she is…sick. She didn't want to tell you and make you leave school…" Cross was already taking the stairs three at a time when Elaine finished her sentence. He burst in the door. He looked over at his father, who was sitting by her bedside.

"How bad is it?" His father shook his head.

"She has consumption, son. The doctor doesn't know how long she has left to live."

"So I'm going to live the little life I do have left," his mother said defiantly, sitting up in her bed. She coughed numerous times, so much that Cross thought her lungs might come out at any minute.

"Welcome home, son. I've missed you so much," she held out her arms for a hug. Though Cross wasn't terribly affectionate, he always made an exception for his mother.

"My, you've grown so much since Christmas! You're taller than your father now! Oh, and your hair! I like it this length." If his father had any objections, he didn't voice them out of respect for his wife. He simply got up and went down the stairs, leaving the two alone.

--

The train came to a grinding halt, and Tiedoll looked up from his drawing. It was the middle of the night, and he was the only one awake. General Yeeger had told him to get off at this stop, so he grabbed his things and stepped onto the platform. He watched the train leave before walking out of the station.

Tiedoll searched the area, looking for an inn to stay at. He finally found one and settled down in his room.

"Now if I were an Innocence in this town, where would I be?" he mused to himself before falling asleep…

--

Cross waited until his mother had fallen asleep before heading downstairs. It was terribly late at night and the house was dark and shadowy. However, he could hear clanging coming from the shop downstairs. His father, Adrian, often worked late into the night, especially when he was upset over something. Cross decided to go downstairs and visit with his father.

His father looked up from the piece of metal he was working with.

"Hello, son," he said simply before returning to his work. Cross sat down in a chair, pulling a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it.

"Smoking? That's hardly good behavior for a priest." He took a long drag and blew out smoke.

"They don't care if you smoke, just so long as you don't do it in church."

His father grunted in reply and went back to his work. Cross watched him, noticing the gray streaked throughout his short cropped black hair. His father was finally beginning to age despite the fact he was only thirty-eight years old.

"I'm going to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth."

"Anything within reason, son." Cross ground out his cigarette with his boot and turned around in his chair.

"How long?" he asked bluntly. Adrian put down the hammer and sighed.

"The doctors aren't exactly sure. They said anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. They've only given her five more months at the most." Cross nodded, processing the news slowly. His father had always been a man who told the truth, who didn't mince words or try to sugar coat anything. He'd given it to him point blank, and for that, Cross was thankful.

"Well, thanks for telling me the truth. Now I'm off to get some sleep." He got up off the chair and was about to walk out the door when his father stopped him.

"Hold on a minute son. I have something to show you." Adrian pulled a black box out from under the counter and set it down heavily.

"A man brought this to me a couple of days ago. Said he found it lying in his backyard one day, but couldn't use it He said that it was worthless. I can't use it myself, can barely pick the thing up. But the design of it is different from any gun I've ever seen. I thought you might be interested in it." He opened the case and revealed a silver handgun, though judging by the size of it you could hardly call it that. It had a cross emblazoned on the side of its large barrel.

"Thing is, though, I couldn't find any bullets to fit it. All I know is this is the strangest gun I've ever seen." Cross looked at it before carefully touching the surface.

Warm. He expected it to be cold, or at least cool, because that's how metal usually felt. It pulsed underneath his fingertips.

His father was right. This was no normal gun.

Cross picked it up carefully, expecting it to feel like a piece of lead in his hand. It didn't. It felt no different in his hand that a pencil. The pulse was stronger now, resounding through his body. His father looked at him with wide eyes.

"This isn't heavy," Cross said. "It feels lighter than any gun I've ever held." That wasn't the only reason his father was staring, though.

It was glowing, a pale blue aura swirling around it. Then it moved up Cross' arm, moving until it surrounded his entire body. He panicked, wanting to drop the gun, but found himself unable to. It spoke to him, softly, only heard by him.

'_Yes, you are my accommodator. You are the one I have been searching for all these years. My name is…Judgment. I am an Innocence, and now you are my wielder.' _

"Apparently it's supposed to be mine," Cross said finally. His father simply nodded.

"Then you may have it. I had a feeling when I first got it that it was meant for you."

--

The Millennium Earl looked down at the city from the rooftops, ever present grin on his face. Tonight had been a good night.

But tomorrow would be better.

"Yes, tomorrow will be a good night to come back here" he said happily as he left for better places…

--


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"I'm sorry for your loss." The doctor bowed and left the room. Cross couldn't even think, much less try and speak to the man leaving the room.

How could this have happened so fast, so soon? He'd only been home one day and she was already gone. Just like that. He felt so…empty, like he was sitting on a whole other plane of reality with no one else around.

It made him want to cry.

And so he did, without caring if anyone else was around to hear him.

His father had gone to the coroner's and the church to make arrangements for the funeral. Cross was alone, which he found oddly…comforting.

He heard a tentative knock at the door. He wondered who would be coming at this time of night. It was only about nine, but it was still late for anyone to be showing up at someone else's house unexpected.

Cross got up and went to the door. He knew he probably looked like a mess, but he didn't care.

A man with a bag full of drawing notebooks and pencils stood at the door. His brown hair was streaked with gray, his clothes rumpled and smeared with charcoal.

"Can I help you?" Cross snapped. He realized then he'd been a bit harsh, but the stranger seemed to pay no mind to it.

"My name is Theodore Tiedoll. I am an Exorcist from the Black Order. My superiors tell me there is an Innocence in this area. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?" He eyed the man suspiciously. Could he be trusted? After a few moments, he finally answered.

"Yes…I do. It's in my possession, and it's chosen me as its…accommodator." The man's eyes grew bright and he smiled.

"Praise God! I go searching for an Innocence and find a new Exorcist to train! This is surely a prosperous trip!" He hugged Cross, who promptly pulled away.

"You must come back with me to Headquarters! Oh, I don't think I've ever been happier. General Yeegar is sure to be pleased with me!"

"I can't go with you. My mother just passed away and I'm not missing her funeral," Cross said bluntly. Tiedoll was unfazed however.

"I can wait a couple of days, it's no big deal. I just have to call in and report…"

"What if I don't want to go with you? What if I want to stay here?" Tiedoll looked at him.

"You have no choice in the matter, son. The Innocence has chosen you, which means you are chosen of God. And if you don't use that Innocence to do God's work, then it will destroy you. Because the Innocence has chosen you, you are an Exorcist. Unofficially, of course."

"God's work? I'm a priest now, and never did my teachers say that I would have to do anything like this…"

"The Black Order is under the jurisdiction of the Pope and the Catholic Church. We are not the enemy here. Now I must leave. I have to give my report before eleven tonight. Oh, and one last word of warning…"

"Yes?"

"If a man comes to you offering to bring your mother back to life, refuse him. He is called the Millennium Earl, and he is nothing but bad news. Also, keep your Innocence with you at all times. I will return in four days. Please be ready to leave by then." He left Cross standing in the doorway with many more questions.

Just who was the Earl? What was the Black Order?

Who were the good guys and the bad guys, really?

Cross shut the door and went up the stairs. He decided he would go along with the man from the Black Order just to see where it would take him.

"Good evening. Such a lovely night, isn't it?" Cross turned quickly and faced the man standing in his living room, if he could be called a man.

"What the hell are you doing here? Who are you?" Cross demanded. The man simply laughed, smiled eerily etched on his face.

"I am the Earl," he replied. "And I want to help you. Your mother just passed away, did she not?"

Cross could feel Judgment shaking in his pocket, heat against his leg.

_Don't trust him. Tell him to leave._

"Yes she did. What's it to you, old man?"

"I can bring her back for you."

"She's in a better place now, where she's not sick. I wouldn't bring her back just so she could be miserable. Now leave and don't come back." Cross turned and began to walk away.

"She wouldn't be sick. She would be just as healthy as you remember her in your childhood." He froze. Tears dripped from his eyes.

"What would it cost me?" he asked.

_You fool! He's evil! He'll kill you! Don't!_

"Why nothing, my dear boy," the Earl said. "My work is a labor of love for the people of this world."

_Bullshit, _Judgment snarled in Cross' head.

"An Exorcist visited me and told me to stay away from you."

"And if the same Exorcist told you to jump off your roof, would you? Come now, my boy. I am not the one in the wrong here. I am only trying to help." That creepy smile seemed to grow wider.

Cross smirked. Maybe he could get what he wanted from both of them.

"Fine then. You have a deal, Mr. Earl."

"Excellent! Now, what was your mother's name?" He produced a robotic looking unit seemingly out of thin air.

"Hannah," Cross replied.

"Alright then." The name "Hannah" appeared on the unit. It shook for a moment, then stopped. It spoke.

"Wh-where am I? What am I doing here?" Cross recognized the voice.

"Mother?" he asked.

"Marian? Why am I here? Why did you bring me back to this world?"

"Because he loves you," the Earl said. "Now, kill your beloved son and wear his skin."

Cross began backing away.

"This wasn't part of the deal!" he cried. "You promised!"

"Yes, and promises are almost always broken, naïve boy. It doesn't matter now considering you're going to be dead soon, does it?" The robot grabbed onto Cross's face and began prying his mouth open. Its claws raked against the right side of his face, ripping into his flesh painfully.

_USE ME YOU IDIOT!!KILL THAT AKUMA!! _Judgment yelled in his mind. Cross pulled the gun from his pocket and shot the machine. Once, twice, three times. It dissolved into a pile of ash and his mother's spirit left it, going back to where she once was.

"Oh my, an Innocence. And here I thought you and I could be good friends."

"You thought wrong, Earl. Now get the hell out of here and don't come back. Don't think this is over. I will become an Exorcist and I will hunt you until the day I die. I will kill you for this, even if it costs me my life."

"Well then, I shall look forward to our next meeting, Marian! Goodbye!" The Earl opened his umbrella and floated away.

"Damn you Earl! I will have my revenge! I will hate you for the rest of my life!!" Cross shouted after him, blood dripping from his face and a crazed look in his eye…

--

**A/N: In order to clear things up, Cross' father gave him the gun because he said that he thought Cross was meant to have it. I'm going off pure speculation, but in what I'm writing the Innocence has the ability to communicate to some degree with people other than those who wield it. Judgment communicated with his father and told him that it was meant for Cross. Sorry if I caused any confusion on that aspect. **


End file.
